Any expert vegetable patch gardeners prepared to help a novice?

[shootfromthehip]

Hello there,

I have cleared a couple of 7ft by 4 ft 'patches' in my garden to plant vegetables in. The land was previously turfed and the soil seems to be in good condition but I have mixed in some bonemeal and turned it all over. Was also hoping to add some compost from the composting bin but despite it sitting there for nearly 2 yrs, it still seems a bit to 'lumpy' for want of a better word.

Can you help me re whether or not I need to add anything else to the soil and what kind of veg I can plant straight from seed? Am keen to go for root veg and peas etc and am not sure what to go for? Can you please give me the benefit of your wisdom?

Oh, garden is south facing (but in rainy Scotland) and reasonably sheltered if that makes a difference? As I say, am a novice

Thanks in advance

We've un-turfed some lawn to make raised beds, and have used compost for the bin (that has been there for about 4 years) and have topped up with bought compost.

My garden is south facing, but also in rainy (west) Scotland. This is my first year, so I'm by no means an expert, but happy to tell you what I've done so far.

I have planted courgettes from seed, and I now have about 13 plants in small pots in a cold frame. I read recently that four plants is more than enough to provide enough courgettes for the average family, though, so I'll be passing them onto friends and family!

I also have 2 tubs of first-early potatoes planted, and the shoots are just an inch or so high. I'm hoping to harvest them in July, and next month I will plant some mid-earlies (I think), that will be ready in Aug or Sept.

In my bed, I have planted beetroot, carrots and spinach. None of these have come through yet, but I only planted them a couple of weeks ago. I also have a large trough at the kitchen with a selection of "cut and come again" salad leaves.

Oh, and also onions in the bed.

I had peas last year in a tub. They weren't hugely successful, but I might try again this year.

Good luck

Oh, MrsM- thanks so much- I think I could get into this gardening lark but I should probably wait ans see how succesful I'm going to be before getting too carried away. Never thought of courgettes so will add them to my purchasing list. Good luck.

Anymore advice welcome. Ta

I think in your first year you have to experiment and see what grows well in your garden. My garden is very good for root veg such as carrots, leeks, potatoes also good for squash and peas/beans. However cabbages and sprouts are useless.

Grow things that you like and will eat! However I don't tend to grow stuff thats very cheap to buy such as onions.

This year I'm growing;

lettuce
chantray carrots
peas
cucumbers
tomatoes
celeriac
butternut squash
sweetcorn

Plan out where everything is going to go and remember that some stuff like squash take up a lot of space.

Oh thanks- I didn't think sweetcorn would grow here (why I don't know but I didn't ). Will also have to plant some celeriac as I can never get it here and I love it.

I tried sweetcorn last year and it was a disaster. I think the weather was just too Scottish for it.

Hi... we've been seriously veg gardening for about 6-7 years now and still learning and making mistakes. My big tips are....
Crop rotation.... you need 4 beds (in your case 3.5x4 foot each) make sure you do not plant the same crops in the same bed next year. The groups are roots/brassicas(cabbages etc)/legumes(beans,peas/onions
Get a notebook and write in it what you plant and when and the names, You won't remember what you did next year.
Don't attempt brassicas without netting/tunnel/fleece. We have lost loads to cabbage whites.
Just grow the things you really love and lots of them. My kids will strip the peas in hours which is slightly upsetting when you are looking forward to dinner.
Make sure you have spares, so don't give away all those courgettes
expect failures... every year something goes wrong
HTH's

I grew sweetcorn two years in a row and the bloody badgers ate the lot. [Grrr]

Potatoes are excellent for breaking up soil and are very good rotated each year with beans/peas etc. The seed potatoes are all sold out where I am, but you may be lucky. Broad beans are the hardiest pod and do very well oop North.

Tomatoes need endless watering when it's dry and tend to rot off when it's wet. But when you do get a good year, they are utterly fabulous.

To maximise space, plant radish/lettuce between rows of slower growing root crops or brassicas.

Could you put in some raspberry canes? - you have the perfect weather for them.